Cleetus McFarland takes on Talladega this Saturday

That’s right, Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, will return to the seat of a stock car at a superspeedway, but this time he’ll hit Talladega Superspeedway.

Cleetus saw his day end early at Daytona earlier this year, completing only 17 of 80 laps due to a crash.

He hopes to do a few more laps than that …

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His post interview from Daytona is still one of my favorite videos. Makes me laugh every time. 

In reply to Paris Van Gorder :

Is Cleetus McFarland the real-life Ricky Bobby? Fairly close.

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

Oh 100%

I wish they'd broadcast the race OTA.  I don't have cable.

In reply to eastsideTim :

You can probably find a live stream of it somewhere on YouTube. 

Dale Jr had him on as a guest on his podcast recently, well worth a listen

EricM said:

Proof of just how gullible nascar fans are

I'm not sure what you mean with this comment, but Cleetus (Garret) is a very intelligent guy.   And he's a hell of a driver.  He's had success in a wide range of vehicle types and also flies planes and helicoptors.

EricM said:

Lof8 - Andy said:

EricM said:

Proof of just how gullible nascar fans are

I'm not sure what you mean with this comment, but Cleetus (Garret) is a very intelligent guy.   And he's a hell of a driver.  He's had success in a wide range of vehicle types and also flies planes and helicoptors.

then why doesn't he go by his real name?

Because he created a character. That character is an extremely marketable brand/product. 

Like him or not (and I can't say that I always do), the guy is undeniably a marketing machine. It just so happens that he can drive just about anything well. 

For the first time since I was a little kid, I'm actually interested in something NASCAR related. 

rickbeen said:

Dale Jr had him on as a guest on his podcast recently, well worth a listen

Is the podcast this one?

Cleetus McFarland Meets Dale Jr. And Gives You The Interview Nobody Expected

rickbeen said:

Dale Jr had him on as a guest on his podcast recently, well worth a listen

Jr. also took him around the track and gave him lessons.

The John Rhett #30 ARCA team are GOOD People and will give him a cjance to build his BRAND.

Xceler8x said:

rickbeen said:

Dale Jr had him on as a guest on his podcast recently, well worth a listen

Is the podcast this one?

Cleetus McFarland Meets Dale Jr. And Gives You The Interview Nobody Expected

Yes.  That's a good watch.  Might change your opinion of him, if it's currently a negative one.  

Qualified P9 out of 38 cars. Shake and bake.

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

Wonder how many folk he bested that started out in a kart at 4yo...

And have a law degree and a few pilots licenses.

Looks like no overall race coverage for free (without signing up for trials), but NASCAR is broadcasting his in car camera on YT

I've been watching the live stream off and on since the start. Many of the comments are depressing. I hate to stereotype, so I won't, but it would be easy. 

In reply to Motojunky :

Glad my Roku's YT app doesn't show comments on the stream.  10th place, pretty darned good for running on seven cylinders for several laps early in the race.

Was watching the Cleetus in-car while listening to the MRN audio, which was running about 15-20 seconds ahead.  I heard about the overtime wreck, but YT played an ad right about when it would have happened, and by the time video was back, it was yellow flag.  Hope the wreck wasn't too serious.

In reply to eastsideTim :

According to Garret's post-race commentary from the in-car stream, they broke a valve spring ~5 laps in and were on seven cylinders all day. It'll be interesting to hear the detail on that. In any case, p10 is pretty darn good IMO. I'll tune in next time. 

10th place...

EricM said:

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Lof8 - Andy said:

EricM said:

Proof of just how gullible nascar fans are

I'm not sure what you mean with this comment, but Cleetus (Garret) is a very intelligent guy.   And he's a hell of a driver.  He's had success in a wide range of vehicle types and also flies planes and helicoptors.

then why doesn't he go by his real name?

 

He explains the Garrett/Cleetus thing here...who berkeleying cares.

This is the next NASCAR star. If he isn't already. Ran Talladega on 7 cylinders and came in 10th. That's damned impressive. 
 

At least NASCAR  has  got some press , Cleetus  so far seems like a big plus .

Now if Netflix  can do NASCAR  series like F1 .........naw thats too much........